I learned yesterday that there's an apparent arsonist starting fires in Provincetown. Beyond the obvious personal reasons for being concerned about this apparent fact (the last incident that I'm aware of occurred right next door to my property), I'm more intrigued by the deeper psychological issues that cause all kinds of anti-social, aberrant behaviors.
So, I don't have a lot to contribute personally to the dialog, beyond my state of bewilderment, but I wanted to share both the emerging story as it begins to unfold in the Provincetown Banner and a small blurb I found from some CBS broad cast profiling arsonists, Firesetters . . .
Photo Pru Sowers
Provincetown firefighters pried open
a garage door at 2 Commercial St.,
where police say a fire was deliberately set.
Profile Of A Serial Arsonist
A study involving 83 serial arsonists found that 82 percent were white, 94 percent were male and half were age 27 or younger. Each had set about 31 fires. Most serial arsonists had a history of prior crimes, with 87 percent reporting prior felony arrests.
While two-thirds of the subjects had average or above-average intelligence, 90 percent had only a high school education or less. Most subjects also had difficulties in their personal relationships or with socialization. Among the 83 subjects studied, there were 637 prior placements in institutions ranging from foster homes to jails. One-fourth of the subjects had reportedly attempted suicide at least once, and almost half had psychological histories. Less than one-third said they had warm or close relationships with their parents, though over half came from homes with both parents present.
More than half of the arsonists chose to observe the blaze after it was set, either from the scene or at a nearby location. Most said they did not think about being caught when setting the fires, or thought it was unlikely. Most were arrested through police work, with 15 percent having turned themselves in.
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